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Dream final of the Darts World Cup already impossible
As of: 10:06 a.m. | Reading time: 2 minutes
Michael van Gerwen has been darts world champion three times
Source: dpa/Bernd Thissen
The big highlight of the darts season is approaching. The World Championship field will be drawn on Monday. A German is in top form in good time. The two top favorites go to one side of the tournament tree.
The final between Michael van Gerwen and Luke Humphries at the World Cup in London, which many darts fans had hoped for, is impossible even before the draw. For the tournament from December 15th to January 3rd, the Dutchman and the Englishman are seeded in second and third place and would therefore meet in a possible semi-final.
On Sunday evening, the two professionals delivered a high-class final at the Players Championship Finals, which Humphries won 11:9 after falling behind and ultimately making unusual mistakes by his opponent. The Englishman is the man of the hour and has recently won three important major tournaments.
Man of the hour: Luke Humphries
Source: dpa/John Walton
While he is still missing from his collection of world titles, van Gerwen has already triumphed three times, most recently in 2019. Last year he lost in the final against Michael Smith, who is number one this year.
In addition to the Englishman, on the other side of the tournament tree there are, among others, the Scottish former world champion Peter Wright and co-favorite Gerwyn Price from Wales. The draw for the tournament will take place this Monday (5:30 p.m.). Beforehand, the last four open participants in the 96-player field are determined.
30,000 pounds in prize money for Clemens
For the two seeded Germans, Gabriel Clemens and Martin Schindler, the starting position looks good. World Cup semi-finalist Clemens is seeded in 22nd position and would potentially face Englishmen Dave Chisnall and Nathan Aspinall on the way to the quarter-finals. The “German Giant” is in top form in good time; at the Players Championship Finals he only failed in the semi-finals against van Gerwen and took away 30,000 pounds in prize money.
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On the way to the round of the last eight, Schindler (position 26) would have to defeat the Dutchman Danny Noppert and the Australian Damon Heta, who has often played strongly this year. Both professionals could only meet the top five players in the quarterfinals at the earliest. In addition to Clemens and Schindler, there are two other Germans in the first round: Ricardo Pietreczko and Dragutin Horvat, who recently performed so well on the PDC tour.
